Ammunition belts for use in automatic rapid-fire weapons must hold the cartridges in correct alignment and with accurate spacing to present them in rapid succesion for proper feeding into the chamber of the weapon. Yet the belt must flex and twist freely in order to feed through the weapon at the required high rate without jamming. The stamped metallic links which make up these belts are subject to becoming distorted during forming, assembly, and attachment of cartridges, so that it is necessary to test the flexibility of the finished, loaded belts to ensure that they will function properly.
It is the general object of this invention to facilitate the testing of ammunition link belts for flexibility. It is a more specific object to provide an improved testing apparatus which, with a continuous feed, folds the belt longitudinally in both directions, twists it about its length through 180.degree., and automatically discontinues feeding the belt in the event that the links bind and fail to hinge properly.